Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Fisheries Research Report No. 1793, 1973
Growth and Survival of Northern Pike in Two Small Lakes Containing Soft-Rayed Fishes as the Principal Source of Food
George B. Beyerle
Abstract.-Fingerling northern pike were stocked for 3 years in two small lakes, one containing only minnows and the other containing minnows and young coho salmon. Pike stocked at a rate of 46 fingerlings per acre, in 3 years produced mean standing crops of 52 pounds per acre. In the pike-minnow lake an adequate supply of small minnows throughout the study resulted in high survival of all year classes of pike. Moderate growth of pike occurred, but pike longer than 15 inches exhibited slow growth, presumably because of a lack of larger food items. In the pike-minnow-salmon lake, survival of all three year classes of pike was relatively low, because very few small minnows were available to each year's crop of fingerling pike. However, the inclusion of salmon as a forage presumably increased the growth of larger pike to the extent that pike of age-group II averaged 2. 6 inches longer in the pike-minnow-salmon lake than in the pike-minnow lake.